American Demon by Daniel Stashower

The story of the American "Jack the Ripper" might pull you in at first but just as interesting is the backstory of the early days of forensic criminal science and the control of corruption and gangsters after prohibition by an unlikely hero, Eliot Ness. 1934 and body parts are turning up all over an area of Cleveland. Police are dumbfounded as they have no clues and no way to connect the human puzzle pieces until the heads are found. Some are fresh and some have been preserved while all have been expertly dissected and dismembered. Was this the act of a mad serial butcher or a disgruntled doctor?
How many bodies were out there and when will the killings stop? Time to call in "The Untouchables" and new anti- crime boss of Cleveland - Eliot Ness. Daniel Stashower gives us all the gruesome details of these murders and the public's fascination with them as well as the headlines of the time and the methods used. One fact I found particularly interesting was how they invited the public to have their fingerprints made during the World Exposition in Chicago which gave the police the first fingerprint data base. The perfect follow up to Eric Larson's DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY.  4 stars